My work

My work is experimental: I like to play with the wood and try new textures and colors, new tools, and new techniques. I also enjoy giving a new life to a piece of wood. My job as an assistant gave me the opportunity to find and use interesting wood that may have too many cracks and knots for the students. I carve with rotary tools and gouges to create new shapes and textures. My aim is to make pieces that are sculptural, decorative, and designed with a strong message or a story to tell. I also enjoy collaborating with other artists, creating pieces with a strong story and with materials or techniques that I wouldn’t be able to make on my own. It allows me to see my work with a different eye and evolve, learn and share an experience with that person.

Demos

Miniature Teapots: Turning of a miniature teapot (approximately an inch) using the bedan and demonstration on how to use it with the bevel up for spindle turning, hollowing of the teapot with miniature hollowing tools. Then turning of the lid and the spout (magnifiers not included) and coloring using Indian ink and gilding wax to create the Damascus steel effect. Finally, demonstration on how the make the handle using a wire and a cotton string on the lathe.

Ploc! Multi- Axis Drop: Turning and turning off-center of a drop using a spindle gouge and a skew. Then carving of the top of the drop using gouges and rasps to make it thinner and have two different curves on the back and the front giving it an illusion of movement. And finally, texturing of the drop using a woodburner to create a Steampunk design, a combination of gears and metal plates, and coloring using Indian ink and gilding wax.

The Sphere: Roughing out and turning of a perfect sphere between centers and remounting for the finishing using a jam chuck made out of green wood. Hollowing the sphere using small hollowing tools in a homemade chuck for a precise and safe method of hollowing. The sphere is a very pure shape but is also one of the most complicated. It is a great canvas for carving and texturing as well as a pleasant shape that will put forward the beauty of the wood grain.

Winkle is a Professor of Art and Director of the School of Art, Craft & Design at Tennessee Technological University. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Art in Ceramics from the University of Oklahoma and a Master of Fine Art in Furniture Design from San Diego State University. Her workshop teaching experience includes, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Penland School of Crafts, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Anderson Ranch Art Center, The Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, John C. Campbell Folk School and the Appalachian Center for Craft.

Demos

Turning a Small Stool: During this demonstration students will learn how to turn a small stool.  Kimberly will demonstrate how to faceplate turn the seat, design and create a template for turning duplicates, and spindle turn matching legs.  Whether you’re interested in turning one leg or one hundred and one, these techniques and tips will help. These same techniques can be applied to making multiple parts of most anything: candlesticks, chair rungs, banister railings….

From Drab to Pizzazz: Milk Paint and Surface Embellishment: You keep hearing of Milk Paint over and over again but have no idea really what it is or how to begin using it, right?  Kimberly will demystify Milk Paint.  During the demonstration, students will learn how to properly mix, use, and explore the infinite possibilities of Milk Paint.  Although Milk Paint is often associated with traditional furniture forms, the material can be used on practically any surface or format: - metal, stretched canvas, bedroom walls, kitchen cabinets, toys, furniture…  Your only limitation is your imagination.   Milk Paint is incredibly durable, eco-friendly and comes in a delicious color palette.  Students will learn how to use Milk Paint and to explore the wide range of visual possibilities. The techniques learned can be translated to any number of other projects or formats.

Turning a wall mirror During this demonstration, students will learn how to turn a two-part wall mounted mirror.    Using face plate turning techniques to turn the forms, students will learn how to transform and combine common techniques into something that is uncommon in format.

I moved to Saluda, NC in 2000 and have been able to focus on my woodworking since opening my own studio there.  In addition to making my work, I teach and demonstrate woodturning around the country for woodturning clubs and craft schools.

Demos

Turn hollow forms without the hollowing. Cut it in half: Hollow forms turned through a small opening were always a challenge for me to turn. In this demo I'll show how I make hollow forms, using green wood, much like you make lidded boxes only I'll glue the lid back on. Not only is there less risk of turning through the side of your vessel but it is also easier to gauge the wall thickness as well as remove the shavings from the inside. I'll focus on techniques for making a precise joint to help ensure that the piece stays together as it dries. Time will be spent demonstrating various ways to then hide the seam in your vessel. This vessel will also have handles.

Surface embellishment for your turnings:  I will demonstrate all the various techniques and methods I use for embellishing my work. I’ll start by showing how I layout geometric patterns on my turned vessels. Some of the techniques I’ll cover include, carving with hand and power tools, engraving, and even some textures done on the lathe. I’ll show how I use milk paints and dyes to enhance the carved patterns and lastly how I sharpen my carving tools using a simple homemade MDF strop.

Turn a shrink box: A shrink box is a container that is made from green wood with a bottom that is a dry disk of wood fitted into a groove in the base of the box. The green wood box shrinks as it dries locking the bottom in place. Traditionally these were hand carved. I’ll demonstrate how to turn the box, cut the groove and carve and shape the bottom to achieve a good tight fit. Typically turned wood boxes are made from dry wood, I like this technique as it is a way to make lidded containers but still use green wood.

At a very young age Rudy began to develop his creative eye through photography, his first artistic pursuit. and began his relationship with wood as a craftsman of fine furniture and cabinetry. With an education in drafting and design, and many years working as a professional photographer, the transition into woodturning has been a seamless flow into another creative endeavor.

Rudy's energetic easy-going personality and his ability to explain woodturning techniques in a simple understandable manner have allowed him to share his skills and enthusiasm for woodturning through teaching and demonstrating at regional and national symposia and clubs across the country.  Rudy also conducts workshops in his Tampa studio and teaches at schools including: Arrowmont School of Arts and Craft, John C. Campbell Folk School, Marc Adams School of Woodworking, the Center For Funiture Craftsmanship and The Florida School of Woodwork.

From Rudy:

"I have always had a love of natural objects and the environment in which those objects flourish. My adolescence was spent pursuing anything and everything outdoors and with that came my love of wood. I spent much of my life on my uncle’s cattle ranch near Tampa, Florida. All the many days spent with my father and uncles working cows and being in the woods gave me a great appreciation for the out-of-doors, and all things relating to nature. To this day, my greatest pleasures come from enjoying nature with my wife hiking, hunting, fishing, mountain biking, kayaking, and just being in the woods.

 I love everything about wood, rough or smooth; it possesses a warm welcome feel. Wood grows from the earth with its endless earthy color variations and the swirling grain patterns of burls and knotty woods. Wood has an unlimited potential for creativity but also flaws and faults, cracks, knots, and other defects which sometimes make it difficult to work with. This is my favorite kind of wood. 

 Wood is an imperfect medium, yet I never cease to be amazed by the incredible amount of beauty to be found in it as I create a new turning.  To me this is the beauty that God and nature has provided me with as a starting point, then it becomes a challenge to continue this and create something of beauty for others to  enjoy.

I feel my goal as an artistic woodturner is to bring out this beauty and enhance it to create something that invites the eye and beckons the touch. I prefer simple shapes with flowing lines that showcase but preserve and reflect the natural characteristics of the wood, thus becoming something of beauty for many to enjoy for years to come."

I can still vividly recall my first experience at the lathe…I turned a pair of  walnut candlesticks  in high school wood shop. I watched spellbound as the form of each candlestick developed. The intoxicating scent of black walnut filled the air as piles of shavings grew around me.  A film of French polish applied to the revolving pieces seemed to bring the swirling grain to life.  Something inside of me had come to life as well; I had discovered a passion for woodworking that would endure for a lifetime.  My school experiences led me to seek employment in a large cabinetmaking shop. Initially, I was assigned mostly menial tasks, from stacking lumber to sweeping the floors. I started at the bottom, but I had no intention of staying there. I studied the master woodworkers. I observed how they sharpened their tools. I listened to their finely tuned hand planes as they effortlessly produced translucent ribbons of wood. I asked annoying questions, and I watched. And I learned. I took pieces of scrap wood home after work and I practiced. I read every book on woodworking and design I could find.

My perseverance did not go unnoticed; I eventually became assistant to the company President, where I was responsible for designing and building prototype furniture pieces, and the jigs and fixtures required to put them into production. I was granted several design and utility patents for this work. I was also responsible for training new employees and overseeing production in the shop. Subsequently, I was employed by several other cabinet shops before I began my own custom furniture business. Gradually, my interests have evolved, from making functional furniture pieces to creating artistic wood turnings.

It has been over forty years since I created my first lathe-turned objects, yet I feel the same sense of accomplishment when I take an abstract concept and transform it into a completed object.  Working at the lathe gives me a sense of complete freedom; and allows me to explore the limits of my creative ability.  I find inspiration comes in many forms; a walk in the woods, the appearance of folds in a piece of fabric, or even a seemingly insignificant life experience.  I keep a sketchbook handy; there is no way of knowing when inspiration will hit next. I expect each piece I produce to reflect my experiences as a furniture maker as well as a wood turner, as I strive to produce bold, dynamic pieces that reveal a small part of me. My woodworking career continues to lead me in new and often unexpected directions. I believe the best is yet to come.